Graphothek

Art is best when it is experienced. To spend an afternoon wiling away the hours in front of a painting, drawing, sculpture or installation can – in the best of cases – create those special moments where you find yourself immersed in what’s in front of you. There are no end of galleries in Berlin to help facilitate those moments, and no end of festivals and exhibitions to add to that – but one we’d like to direct your attention to this week is Graphothek. Here, art comes to the library – and if you’d like, also to your home.

Located in the Markisches Viertel, Graphothek is one of several loaning initiatives that help to highlight the huge array of artistic talent on offer in Berlin. With a focus on “Modern”, the Graphothek collection houses around 6,000 works by 1,600 artists. Here, you can find famous artists such as Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Fernand Léger, Joan Miró and Wassily Kandinsky, alongside contemporary German artists like Elvira Bach, A.R. Penck, Peter Foeller, Otmar Alt, Klaus Fussmann, Susanne Haun, Horst Janssen or Kurt Mühlenhaupt. Alongside that, there is a collection of works by emerging student artists that you can take, framed and ready wrapped, out on loan for up to a year. It’s a way for these newer figures to receive some much-needed exposure – and a fantastic way for anyone living in Berlin to bring some new life to their home.